Willa Cather's A Lost Lady

Plot Summary for Part II

I--Two years later, Niel returns to Sweetwater. Ivy’s drained the marsh.

II--Niel goes to Forresters’--sees Capt. “an old tree walking”; catches Marian in hammock; they speak of money, the marsh, the new times; the letter & Capt. & Niel; Niel muses on Marian, reconsiders her yet again.

III--Niel sees Marian on bridge; she explains why she goes along with Ivy Peters; Niel once more reconsiders Marian.

IV--The storm! News of Frank & Constance reaches Marian. The phone call, which Niel cuts off. Niel goes to be with Capt. while Judge P. protects Marian in town.

V--Capt. has 2^nd stroke; townspeople go through Forresters’ house “like ants.” Niel steps in to protect both Forresters. At chapter’s end, he again re-evaluates his view of Marian and the Capt.

VI--Capt. Forrester dies. Blums send flowers.

VII--Cyrus Dalzell tries to help Marian. Niel unsure how much he cares for a woman who “was like a ship without ballast….flighty and perverse.” Marian and Niel argue about her desire to help the boys of the town.

VIII--2^nd Dinner Party.

IX--Niel melancholy. He muses on what Capt. F. and Mrs. F. meant to him; leaves town, bitter, after seeing Ivy put his hands across Marian’s breasts. Years later--he was glad he’d known her. Niel meets Ed Elliot and hears of Marian’s final years, he 2^nd marriage, her 2^nd husband. Both men glad.